I have heard that you should never pull your thread back out of the tension disks when you are changing thread on your sewing machine, be it DSM or longarm. Is this true and what is the reason? I don't want to harm my machines, although I have been doing this with my Viking Rose ever since we bought it new in the 90's and have no problems with it after all these years.

Have the same thing with my new Bernina 830. Wastes a little thread, but much better than ruining an expensive machine. Also doing it now on my other machines.

mltquilt

I've also read somewhere that you should pull the upper thread forward through the needle, and not backwards.
But I can't find the website now where I saw it.

Personally I think if a machine is so delicate you can't pull the thread out backwards you probably don't want it. I've been pulling the thread out backwards on my Pfaff for over 10 years. When the presser foot is up, the tension disks are open and the thread is loose.

I think you shouldn't pull the thread out of the machine without raising the pressure foot lever. If that is up it shouldn't really matter how you get the thread out!

Pulling it backwards is supposed to leave lint in the tension disks, but I've been doing it for over 20 years on my Viking with no problems at all and none on the newer Bernina either. I clean between the discs whenever I clean the bobbin area, no big deal. It's just lint, not a tension issue.

ETA: Definitely raise the foot first. (do people really unthread with the foot down?)

I've been doing this for decades with various machines - Singer; White; Viking and never had an issue with any of them. Then again, I don't think it's even possible with the presser foot down. That would be the only issue I could think of as there would be much more pressure on the tension discs and the thread would break leaving the possibility of tiny pieces of thread that you might not be able to see/clean out. Otherwise I agree with whomever it was that said if a machine is that delicate, do you really want it????

I read the same thing, so I clip the thread and pull it through the needle.

If your thread is so linty it leaves lint in the tension disks when you pull it thru backwards with the tension disks open it's probably too linty to be using forward!!

The only machines I know of that you really, really shouldn't pull the thread out backwards are sergers and it's not because of lint in the tension disks. It's because they can be very hard to get threaded in the right order. And if a serger isn't threaded in the exact right order it will not sew.

But if you pull it back out. dose this not help to pull any lint that was cared in by the thread back out?

I was told this when I got my babylock. Honestly I found it absurd, but smiled and nodded anyway.
If the foot is up and the disks are not engaged then it wouldn't matter which way I pull the thread!!
I have had my machine for 3 years, I have never cut and pulled forward.
My tension is as good as it ever was.

Follow your dealer's instructions, not what people here say. Your dealer is going to be the one honoring (or not) your warranty on the machine. Any newer computerized sewing machine owner will be told NOT to pull the thread out backwards. And I surely wouldn't tell you otherwise and risk the longevity of your machine.

I've forgotten why you need to do this, but I do remember that I had to take my machine in for repair - and that was the problem - thread pulled out incorrectly.

ditto, no issues with my 25yo machine

It seems like I read something about this a while back. The advice was to be sure to lift the presser foot as this releases the tension discs in the machine.
I always pull my thread out holding on the spool but I always have the presser foot up when I do this.

Chris

It seems like I read something about this a while back. The advice was to be sure to lift the presser foot as this releases the tension discs in the machine.
I always pull my thread out holding on the spool but I always have the presser foot up when I do this.

Chris

I've read this on several of my embroidery sites regarding my Brother embroidery machines. I clipped my thread at the spool and pull forward. Yes, it waste thread but I do it anyway. I may have been told this by my repair tech...can't remember now!

I also clean my tension discs with "unwaxed" dental floss...very hard to find but I did get it at Walgreen's.

The guy who maintains my machines told me to snip the thread at the spool and pull it out through the needle. He said if there is a little lint in the area of the tension discs it could lodge the lint in the tension assembly to where I can't get it out if I pull the thread backwards through the machine.

I snip the thread at the uptake lever and pull it through the needle. Don't want any stray fuzzies to mess up the smoothness.

It just reduces the chances of lint lodging in the tension mechanism. Thread is spun with directionality. Rubbing it against the grain will dislodge more lint than rubbing with the grain.

Actually, the same applies to bobbin thread -- long lengths should not be pulled backwards through the tensioning system. In that case, I think the bigger risk is eventually scoring the metal.

I don't find it any more difficult to snip thread first, so I just made it a habit to always pull thread through with the grain.

Hand quilters are taught to thread their needle with the grain of the thread (knot goes at spool end of the cut thread). This also is because friction is reduced if you pull thread through fabric with the grain of the thread instead of against the grain of the thread.

Thanks, everybody, for all your comments. Knowing the "why" behind the "do this" is helpful.

The metal will score with the thread going forward long before it will by pulling it backwards since you sew millions of miles more than pulling the thread backwards.

my machine regularly unthreads itself with the foot down, and usually its running. i wanna new one!!!!

I think I read on this site it's OK with the newer models...I've been doing it with my SE since I got her in 07 and never had a problem...But it's the older models with discs that it causing problems with.

Been doing it for years on my brothers and babylock, hasn't hurt them yet

I have no comment on the thread issue, just wanted to let you know I have a machine just like you avatar, a Singer 403 or 403A right?.

I asked my janome dealer about this, he said that if you use 'good thread', it will not hurt a machine. Good thread, meaning no lint. If not, it is the lint that causes problems doing this.

Well I have always pulled my thread from the top, maybe it has to do with the newer model machines. If I were told to do it another way by the dealer, I would do it, simply because they must have a reason (hope they would mention it to me) or they would not waste their time telling me.

I have always pulled the tread out backwards and I haven't had any problems either.

My machine was too expensive to play games with it. If the manufacturer says to pull the thread out at the needle and not up through the discs, I will do it. It's a matter of learning a new habit and once you do, it becomes automatic.

My DM taught me to snip the thread and pull from the bottom. I doubt it harms the machine to pull from the top. It has just been a lifelong habit to do it Mom's way that I don't even think about it.

When you pull thread back from the spool it may cause fuzz or lint to become lodged in the tension area. It is better to cut the thread from the spool,and pull through the needle area.

Pulling it backwards to take out the thread makes more lint that binds up in the tension disks. Snip it off and pull it forward. Always a good idea to take care of your machine.

When I purchased my Bernina 180E, I was told to cut the thread at the top, and pull the thread down and out of the machine. Especially when embroidering because you change threads so many times. He said you are pulling the lint out of the machine when you pull the thread down. If you pull the thread up and out you are pulling the thread lint into the machine.

Here is what was told to me from two different dealers: the tension discs were made to work in the one direction, which is coming down to the needle. When we (I used to do this) pull the thread out from the top rather than from the needle, we are going in the opposite direction the discs were made to work. Therefore, in the long run it will create tension problems in the future. They also stated it is the number one reason a machine needs repaired, because of the tension. So, I clip my thread up by the take up lever and pull the cut strand thru the needle, I save those pieces in a jar and use for hand sewing bindings etc. Hope this helped explain it......

I have a Bernina, when I took my first class, to learn about the machine, and all it could do, we were told never to pull the thread out backwards, always pull it through the needle. I had always done otherwise with my older machines.

True... Clip your thread at the spool and pull through at the needle and out. Consider it a ONE WAY STREET. It helps to floss out the tension discs and thread paths in the machine, rather than shove the lint and fuzz back into the machine. It makes sense when we look at things that way. :)

I was told when I bought my machine not to pull the thread backwards because it would cause a lint build up inside the machine.

I didn't like wasting so much thread when I clipped the thread at the spool, so now I thread a needle with the piece of cut thread and use it for hand sewing or basting. Now I don't mind cutting at the spool.

My dealer was the one who told me this about 15 years ago. Supposedly leaves lint where you don't want lint. In design college I learned that thread is wound on spools to be used in a particular direction, and I have had trouble trying to sew from a bobbin used in place of the top spool. I think this may be related, but I'm not sure. I know that some of the older machines always had the tension disks engaged even when the foot was up. This could be what caused the problem pulling thread up instead of down. I now release the disks and pull the thread straight out from both ends, not down or up.